Discussion
Car has just been serviced at the main dealer and they've given me a few bits that have come up in the healthcheck, mostly advisories, but one that they have marked as urgent:
"Wheel nuts have swollen, have managed to torque but Strongly recommend all new." £177.84 inc Vat
I've never had swollen nuts come up as an issue before, and certainly not all 20 at once. Has anyone had this before? Is it a genuine concern?
They've also recommended new front pads, which I know for a fact were changed last year and have done about 3000, not especially hard, road miles, so I take their advice with a pinch of salt.
"Wheel nuts have swollen, have managed to torque but Strongly recommend all new." £177.84 inc Vat
I've never had swollen nuts come up as an issue before, and certainly not all 20 at once. Has anyone had this before? Is it a genuine concern?
They've also recommended new front pads, which I know for a fact were changed last year and have done about 3000, not especially hard, road miles, so I take their advice with a pinch of salt.
A bit of googling shows that composite lug nuts can and do swell over time, and that can make them very hard to remove. It's also a problem that gets worse over time, and something that ford group cars are known for, so if the nuts are originals and thus a similar age they might be similarly bad.
Edited by murphyaj on Thursday 14th March 15:54
https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/dear-car-talk/swolle...
Steel with a chrome cap to prevent corrosion. Trouble is the steel still corrodes underneath the chrome, hence the swelling. If it gets bad enough they can be pretty hard to remove.
Steel with a chrome cap to prevent corrosion. Trouble is the steel still corrodes underneath the chrome, hence the swelling. If it gets bad enough they can be pretty hard to remove.
The last post is correct , the steel nuts corrode and swell underneath the chrome finishers I assume due to moisture gathering internally , or as may be the case acidic wheel cleaning formulas doing their business .
Not an issue of course until you need to remove the wheel for any reason .
LMV
Not an issue of course until you need to remove the wheel for any reason .
LMV
As somebody I know in Merc main dealer once told me - our advice is given on the premise of we know your historical mileage, and so we make these recommendations on our expert assessment that if your mileage remains consistent then your xyz will need replacing between services which would be an inconvenience for you.....not that they are 100% worn out now . 
oh - and he also let it slip that he has a target for such advance replacements
oh - and he also let it slip that he has a target for such advance replacements
but I really am struggling to take this thread seriously,,, sorry. 
I just spoke to them and they clarified £177 was the price for 10!!!!!! Apparently that included a fitting charge - at about 60 seconds per nut that's quite the hourly rate.
I politely declined. I'm pretty sure I can manage to change some wheel nuts myself for a bit less than that.
I politely declined. I'm pretty sure I can manage to change some wheel nuts myself for a bit less than that.
Edited by murphyaj on Friday 15th March 14:47
To be honest I should have just ignored everything they said after seeing this recommendation:
- Tyre sealent expired, recommend new. £82.21
Price for a bottle on astonmartinbits? £12.00. Perhaps there is a £60 fitting charge for popping it in the boot.
I only went to the main dealer because my usual Indy didn't have a convenient slot, I doubt I shall be returning.
- Tyre sealent expired, recommend new. £82.21
Price for a bottle on astonmartinbits? £12.00. Perhaps there is a £60 fitting charge for popping it in the boot.
I only went to the main dealer because my usual Indy didn't have a convenient slot, I doubt I shall be returning.
murphyaj said:
A bit of googling shows that composite lug nuts can and do swell over time, and that can make them very hard to remove. It's also a problem that gets worse over time, and something that ford group cars are known for, so if the nuts are originals and thus a similar age they might be similarly bad.
Just don’t google images swollen nuts Edited by murphyaj on Thursday 14th March 15:54
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